Is Tsunade x Raikage a weird pairing?
Obviously in the manga, it's clear that Dan Kato was her one and only true love, even though Pierrot took it upon themselves to add Jiraiya x Tsunade scenes that weren't in the manga. In their final parting before he left for the Rain, Tsunade cries for Jiraiya in the anime, which clearly has a romantic undertone to it, but this doesn't happen at all in the manga. With both Dan and Jiraiya gone, he's literally the only one I can think of
I thought that they had some similarities that could make for an interesting pairing (both are relatives of previous Kage, have close relationships with the jinchurki of their village and rely on brute strength during their battles)
They also had a two episode filler flashback (Ep 286-287) as they rushed to the battlefield after Naruto and Bee defeated them. In their first meeting, Ay requests a drunken Tsunade to heal one of his men and then she eventually agrees after losing an arm wrestling contest with him. In that flashback, Ay discovers her fear of blood and Shizune has to take over the surgery. He asks her why Tsunade developed this fear, and she tells him about Nawaki and Dan. In his frustration, he tells Shizune that he must have been in shock too, otherwise he would have never requested the help of a medical ninja who's lost it all. An angry Shizune heals the man and tells him that she'll return to her former self one day for the sake of her late loved ones. I thought this was an interesting moment because after the 3rd Raikage, 4th's father, died, he became the Raikage immediately, so he probably didn't even have a chance to properly mourn him, whereas Tsunade took a long time away from the village to mourn her loved ones. This caused both of them to deal with their trauma in completely different ways. Ay tried to control Bee and keep him in the village so that he'd stay alive and he wouldn't lose anyone again. That's why he was so adamant on fighting Naruto and defeating him so that Bee and him would be kept safe, a direct contrast to Tsunade's feelings towards Naruto. I feel that Tsunade feels this way because she once abandoned everything and understood that you can't decide people's dreams. I'm assuming their were very few people that saw Tsunade at her weakest point away from the village, besides Jiraiya, Kabuto, Naruto and Orochimaru. I considered Orochimaru as well but he killed their sensei and attempted to kill Jiraiya and Naruto along with many others. After he revived her following the Kage vs Madara fight, she says that she'll never understand him, or something to that effect. Ay is one of the only living candidates who witnessed her growth. She also saw his growth firsthand when he finally allowed Bee to fight in the war and stopped trying to control him
I thought them being together could prove that the Leaf and Cloud have officially put the past behind them. I also want to say, it's probably the least offensive ship for both characters by the end of the series; I've seen Raikage paired with everybody under the sun to the point where's it's ridiculous, with Raikage x Hinata being the biggest offender. The ship's not perfect of course, but I thought with a little work it could be interesting. Let me know what you guys think